Chinese company wants more extension, Minister says no

Oct 22, 2021 News

CJIA renovation project…

Kaieteur News – A request by the China Harbour Engineering Company’s (CHEC) for an extension of its deadline to complete additional works at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) by April 2022 has been declined.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar.

Carrissa Goodings, the government’s project engineer overseeing the works.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar rejected the proposal for an extension when he met the contractors on Wednesday. The minister visited the project site to get an update on the progress of works, after he received complaints about it and other related developments.
The Chinese contractor had requested a deadline extension to April 2022, but Minister Indar insisted that the work, which is currently at a progress level of 20 per cent, must be completed this year.
“We’re not discussing any extension. On the 15th of November, of this year, the engineers will go back and they will do a certificate of completion, which is to determine progress works. At that point, we will know exactly what (is the) percentage completion, what are the issues, and then we will have that discussion. I want to make sure that just cause is shown, and try your best as a company -you have 120 workers here-to ensure that you push the work,” Indar said.
The works being done by the contractor include an extension for two new air bridges and rehabilitation work addressing over 1,500 defects, which resulted from poor quality of work by the very contractor. The Minister was informed that 88 per cent of the over 800 defects has been resolved.
Speaking about the request, the government Project Manager on the CJIA expansion programme, Carrissa Goodings, said, “They have requested for an extension in time due to delays in terms of freight. They would have also included for buried utilities, underground utilities that we have encountered when we would have been doing our excavations. So, those are the two major causes for delays.”
With regards to the end-of-year deadline, Goodings posited that the company can complete a “high percentage” and should be able to complete at least 60 per cent by December 31, 2021.
“They have to show us an increase of their resources and, then, we will look at what extension of time will be given, but as it is right now, our position is let’s see you increase your resources, show that you are progressing the work to achieve substantial completion which is 65 – 70 per cent at the end of this year,” she said.
Minister Indar expressed particular concern about the pace of the project, given multiple timeline breaches. He said that a lot of work went into negotiating solutions with the contractor.
“It’s not going as you would like it to go, the speed that you would like it to go. But it is going. It is progressing.”
During his visit, the Minister also inspected works being executed by CALCO Guyana for the construction of a new building attached to the CJIA’s terminal building, which will house a conference room, offices for the airlines, and the other support agencies, as well as storage bonds for the duty-free shops and concessionaires.
He did so against the backdrop of receiving a report of various issues with that project as well. However, even though the contractor was informed that the Minister, and the Chairman of CJIA Board, Sanjeev Datadin, will be present to inspect the ongoing works, they were not present during the site inspection.
“We will have to have a meeting with them on Friday to understand what is going on with this company and how they are going to progress this work so that it doesn’t have a situation where you have slippages in the timeline, so I want to arrest this early,” Indar said.
The CJIA expansion project has been subjected to criticisms from the new government, since it took office in August 2020. President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, and other officials of the government have said that Guyana will not be tolerant of unsatisfactory work and made it clear that the project will only be accepted if it is done in accordance with the “original contract” that was signed in 2011.
As such, Minister Indar noted the fact that when the PPP/C Administration came into office last August, the President himself had to get involved, speaking with the senior management of China Harbour to determine a way forward.
Since then, he noted the government held numerous meetings and inspections with the contractor to resolve issues, and it will continue to advocate for the project to be completed sooner, rather than later.